Information and Advocacy Work

Over the past eight years, CAG has increasingly focused on information and advocacy work in Sweden and Europe. CAG strives to represent and amplify Central Asian grassroots, civil society and marginalized voices towards the Swedish public and decision-makers. In doing so, CAG aims to introduce perspectives that are rarely included at the higher levels of political processes. Information and advocacy work includes, but is not limited to: touring exhibitions, role play days, theme days, Central Asia Days, lectures and explainer clips. We strive to establish contacts with universities, decision-makers and international organizations. CAG’s information and advocacy work includes raising pressing issues related to our thematic areas, which is exemplified by the focus of Central Asia Days and in the content of the exhibition.

Activism, Civil Society and Rights-based work in Central Asia Exhibition

For the fifth year in a row, our exhibition, Activism, Civil Society and Rights-based work in Central Asia toured Sweden. The touring exhibition on human rights and civil society was installed in two new locations during autumn 2021. The first stop was in Mjölby during October before moving on to Eslöv in November. The exhibition was updated during summer 2021 and featured several new organizations as well as new information on existing portraits. It was well-received in both towns with a broad audience consisting of the general public and library staff expressing a strong interest in the content.

The conference “Central Asia Days” went back to its physical format in 2021 after having gone digital in 2020. The event took place on 25-26 November at ABF in Stockholm and was well-received by the audience and speakers. The program focused on various issues related to gender, climate, youth and economics since Central Asia gained independence in 1991. Saltanat Shoshanova discussed discourses around gender, queerness and feminism in contemporary Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that have complex overlapping contexts in which different artistic and activist practices appear. Iulii Didovets presented an assessment of how climate change impacts water resources in the Central Asian region and carefully explained the consequences of water shortages and melting glaciers. Eliza Mandieva joined digitally and presented on how youth in the Caucasus and Central Asia transition from education to employment, using data obtained from her own research. She discussed how women often return home after completing their education, and also explained the reasons why young people across several post-Soviet states often drop out of school or fail to find employment.

Uuriintuya Batsaikhan presented on the economic transition in Central Asia after 30 years, focusing on the role of monetary policy and sustainable finance, as well as the role of economic linkages in peace prospects in the region. Damir Esenaliev presented on the building of social cohesion in Kyrgyzstan and focused on findings and lessons from impact evaluation studies. He highlighted how the impact of international development cooperation projects sometimes is minor, or, in a few cases, even negative. Tilek Mamytova presented on the role and impact of international development agencies in Central Asia – the perception of the development programs by beneficiaries, challenges during the program implementation and positive outcomes in the example of Kyrgyzstan.

CAG had the opportunity to collaborate with a wide range of educational institutions during autumn 2021. A lecture was arranged together with Mittuniversitetet Östersund in September 2021. It focused on gender, conflict and risk mitigation for a group of students studying for their bachelor degree in the same subject. Two lectures which were open to the general public were arranged together with the Swedish Development Forum in November and December. The lectures focused on youth and education as well as the state of gender and women’s rights in contemporary Central Asia compared to their Soviet counterparts. A final lecture was arranged on December 8th together with UF Malmö, the student association focusing on international relations at University of Malmö. This lecture explored civil society developments in Uzbekistan and was open to the students interested in this topic. CAG has also launched a resource hub on its website. The hub will contain a set of pre-recorded lectures by Central Asian professors and will be made available, free of charge, to the general public. New lectures will be added on a continuous basis throughout 2022.

Human Rights Days Virtual Hearings with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

CAG is actively involved in events that address human rights issues from different perspectives to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Central Asia. One of these events is the Swedish Forum for Human Rights that took place 19-21st of April 2021.

The Swedish Forum for Human Rights is the biggest Scandinavian event for human rights. This year, due to COVID, the event went digital. Every year the Forum offers more than 200 lectures, workshops and seminars for everyone who is interested in human rights.

CAG was one of the participants, alongside different CSOs, NGOs, grassroots and other actors this year. CAG’s digital stall included our publications on topics such as youth activism and feminism movements in Central Asia, annual reports and exhibitions, as well as explainer clips to ensure the audience had a wide variety of sources to learn more about Central Asian civil society. Our role play game and a Central Asia quiz featured as interactive activities for attendees. As part of the information and advocacy efforts in Sweden, CAG arranged two digital hearings in 2021 with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first hearing took place on March 3rd and focused on climate change and its effects on Central Asia. The presentation was made by Anara Alymkulova from CAG’s partner organization ISDS. The second hearing was arranged on December 10th and focused on social cohesion and the impact international development cooperation projects have, or do not have, on local communities in Central Asia. The presentation was made by Dr. Damir Esenaliev. Representatives from the Swedish MFA, CAG and the guest speakers from Central Asia participated in the hearings.

Movie Screenings

Another feature of CAG’s advocacy work are “Role Play Days”. In 2019, CAG introduced an innovation to the approach which turned it into a digital roleplaying game. This, in turn, proved to fit neatly with the changed conditions given by the pandemic. The goal behind this roleplaying game is to deepen one’s knowledge about solidarity work and activism through the lens of Central Asia. In 2021, additionally, four new storylines were created, with the expanded version seeking to familiarize the player with common situations and struggles of matters related to LGBTQ+, climate change and mental health in Central Asia. The role play game was promoted during multiple events and two separate events dedicated to the game were carried out. Due to the pandemic restrictions in Sweden, the first role play was conducted online via Zoom. Besides immersing themselves into the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Kyrgyzstan, participants also learned about other issues in Central Asia. Second one, was conducted together with the Student Feminist Association of Malmo (FAMUS). During the session, participants learned about the above-mentioned topics and played the interactive digital game. They also participated in the discussions to exchange thoughts, impressions, reflections and interactions with different other participants, and also provided feedback about the program.

Over the course of 2021, CAG organized several movie screenings both in Malmö and Stockholm as an attempt to showcase pressing social issues in Central Asia. On May 17th, CAG screened a documentary portraying Khadicha, who tirelessly campaigned for the release of her husband, human rights activist Azimjon Askarov. Askarov was imprisoned for crimes he said he did not commit after the interethnic clashes that took place in 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan. He was held in prison for 10 years until his death in 2020. The movie screening took place online and featured the director Martina Shupac as well as the Civil Rights Defenders expert Muzaffar Suleymanov.

On October 20, CAG screened the movie I Am Not Sick! – I Am Gay to showcase the LGBTQ+ situation in Kazakhstan. In Central Asia, LGBTQ+ members and gender-nonconforming people are seen as having a sickness. They face a lot of challenges, persecution and oppression both at societal and governmental levels. As part of the annual Central Asia Days conference, CAG arranged a film screening at Zita Bio in Stockholm. The film screening consisted of two 40-minute documentaries Water, Thirst Time and Mardikor that shed light on important perspectives related to gender and climate.

In June 2021, CAG was invited by The Swedish Development Forum (FUF) to be featured in their interview series Global Voices. CAG invited professor of History of Kyrgyzstan, Cholpon Chotaeva, who has a long experience in both research and teaching, for the interview about the situations for women, the status of the many different ethnic minority-groups, different development issues in Kyrgyzstan and the hope she has for the future of the people. Kyrgyzstan is an unknown country for many Swedes and other Europeans. This episode was an attempt to provide information and raise awareness of the country, its people and history. In addition, several of CAG’s publications now feature in the Swedish Development Forum archive.

One of larger events in Sweden that is held on an annual basis, Feminist Festival, took place in November of this year in the city of Malmö. Central Asia Solidarity Groups organized a movie screening at Panora Bio that was followed by a discussion facilitated by an activist from Kyrgyzstan. The movie named Take and Run provided insights into the illegal practice of bride kidnapping and is based on the story of a young woman who pursues her education, but is suddenly abducted and wed to an unknown man. The audience engaged in a discussion around the rights of women in Kyrgyzstan and a discourse on whether the practice has evolved to become a tradition.

Feminist festival